Mongrel

Mongrel

Noun / Adjective · /ˈmʌŋ.ɡrəl/

Definition

(Noun) a dog of no definable breed, of mixed ancestry; more broadly, a person or thing of mixed origin or nature; (Adjective) of mixed or indeterminate origin; of a hybrid nature.

Origin

From Middle English mungrel, possibly from Old English gemong (a mixture, a mingling — related to the verb mengan, to mix, which gives modern English mingle) + the diminutive or derogatory suffix -rel (as in wastrel, cockerel). Alternatively from a dialectal word for a mixture. The word has been in English from the 15th century. In its application to dogs, mongrel is largely neutral in British English — a mongrel being simply a mixed-breed dog as opposed to a pedigree animal. Applied to people, the word has historically been used as a derogatory racial slur; its use in this sense being deeply offensive and inappropriate in contemporary contexts.